Don't Leave the Light On

Have you ever laid down in your bed, at around 2 am on a night most people your age are out having fun? Lets add some detail to this scenario. You are laying down with the light on, awake, next to a book, and a laptop, sending text messages on your cell phone, to somebody else that should be having fun too.

Is it where you want to be?

It could very well be exactly what you want to be doing. Except... the light is on. That is where your caught. It can't possibly be what you want to be doing.. you would have turned the light off in order to make yourself more comfortable. So what explains these minor punishments towards ourselves? Why throw trash on our bedroom floor when a trashcan is only 5 feet away? Why do we do things things we don't really want to do, every single day?

Honestly, it's mind boggling, and if I attempt to explain it, I'll probably be at least half wrong for every other person that reads this. But there was no reason in bringing it up, if I'm not going to try and break it down into something understandable.

We'll start off with a story. A story about Bert. You know, the guy from Sesame Street that sleeps with Ernie. Lets say Bert is about 12 years old, and is going to Sesame Street middle school. Now Bert is out on the playground just minding his own business swinging on the swings. He sees in the distance, that there is a group of muppets walking behind the school into an area concealed from his view. So Bert decides to investigate. Turns out, its Oscar the Grouch, Grover, and Snuffleuppagus. They decided to smoke some cigarettes. Bert never tried a cigarette before because he learned about how bad they were for him. But Bert has this urge inside of him that makes him really want to smoke the cigarette, and it almost seems as if it is because it is what you aren't supposed to do. So Bert takes the cigarette and smokes it. Bert feels good. Bert feels cool. Bert feels like he is in control. Needless to say, by the time Bert is 18, he is buying cigarettes regularly, and smoking at least a pack every 3-4 days. He knows it isn't any good for him, but he does it anyway.

So how in the hell does Bert smoking have anything to do with laying in bed with the light on. Well, it seems as if it comes down to control. Keeping that light on, is a bad thing. And you dislike it. But at least it is a dislike that you have control over. Messy rooms suck, but maybe they aren't so bad, if you purposely made it messy. You were the one in control.

So now for the classic moral I seem to always have at the end of these things. Maybe this whole control thing should be realized more often. You shouldn't have to create a problem to create control. Control is born through knowing who you are and where you want to be, then taking purposeful steps with you're own legs, in you're own direction.